The Soldier, the Sorcerer, and the Shadow
by TheSilverboar
Summary: A story where the Dragonborn and his three friends come to Skyrim with purpose in their hearts and a destiny awaiting them. A Dragonborn Soldier, a Kahjiit Sorcerer, and an Argonian Shadow. Brothers in bond they set out to make a name for themselves and destroy anything that would seek to destroy their new home.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Hey there my people! I just got a brand new laptop so hopefully I won't have computer problems that will slow down and/or prevent me from updating…hopefully…anyway, to celebrate this I'm doing several updates at once…yaaaaay!**

 **AN2: With my new computer I want to try and get Skyrim for my computer so I can use Mods and Console Commands (as I have friends who do so and it looks awesome!) but I want some suggestions for which mods to get. Some of what I'm looking for are mods that add new spells, unique armor/weapons, new shouts and a Lightsaber…I want a Skyrim Lightsaber…Anywho, if you have a mod (or mods) that you want to recommend then go to the Review box and put in the name of the mod, what it does, and where to get it.**

 **AN3: Character Bios will be at the bottom**

The Soldier, the Sorcerer, and the Shadow

Chapter 1

-Perseus-

Groaning he forced his eyes to open, blinking away the blurriness that clouded his vision as he took in his surroundings. "Ah, you're awake!" a voice spoke up causing him to turn to see a Nord warrior wearing blues and greys, hands bound, and sitting next to a thin man who was wearing rags as well as a well-dressed man who was gagged for some reason..

"We were captured by the Empire as we were too close to these 'Stormcloaks' during a raid." The low almost hissing voice of one of his oldest friends spoke up as he turned to the right to see his friend Deresi immediately next to him and his other old friend, Thehan, at the far end.

Deresi was an Argonian with charcoal black scales, piercing yellow eyes, and a large collection of head spikes giving him a downright feral appearance. Thehan on the other hand was a Khajiit with pure white fur accented with black stripes that, along with his rather large fangs, made him look a great deal like a snowy saber cat. "So the odds of us being taken for execution?" he asked calmly as he tilted his head, loosening the joints in his neck while his two bestial friends gave savage grins.

"They'll most likely try." Thehan growled eagerly, his friend licking the protruding fangs almost hungrily.

"You lot seem rather confident on your own survival." The Nord warrior spoke up with a raised eyebrow to which he gave a grin that was just as feral as his companions'.

"Our time has not run out yet," he answered "so I know I have nothing to fear…for now at least.". At his answer the warrior simply raised a disbelieving eyebrow while the man in rags gave a derisive snort and the gagged man rolled his eyes. Despite their reactions though he was telling the truth as he and his friends hadn't come to Skyrim on some whim but due to the words of an old Moth Priest who had told them that they had a great destiny that awaited them within the war torn country. The old man would have never counted getting executed as a 'Great Destiny' so he knew he had nothing to fear.

"Shut up back there!" the Imperial soldier driving the cart snapped irritably.

"What are you going to do?" the Nord snorted derisively "Cut my head off twice?" making the cart driver snarl angrily.

"You have a real problem with authority, don't you?" he asked in amusement at the man's rather sarcastic answer.

"The Empire aren't a real authority," the Nord snorted derisively "the only authority I recognize is that of Ulfric Stormcloak, the _TRUE_ High King!".

"Wait," he groaned as he finally figured out who he was stuck with "you lot are those idiotic rebels I heard about back in Cyrodil! The ones who murdered the High King of Skyrim and threw the entire country into war because of one man's egomania.". The Nord warrior looked about ready to attack him but a mounted Imperial yanked the angered rebel back down with a smirk, raising an intrigued eyebrow at him as well as his companions.

"General Tulius sir!" a new voice called out as he glanced to his left to see an Imperial soldier standing atop the wall of a city "The Headsman is waiting!".

"Alright," a greying man called out tiredly "let's get this over with!".

"No! No! No! No!" the man in the rags, who he assumed was a thief, called out desperately "Kynareth, Dibella, Akatosh, Divines! Someone please help me!".

"Where are you from Horse Thief?" the Nord warrior asked with a calming voice to the now addressed thief, shooting him a sour look before doing so.

"Why do you care?" the thief groused, flinching when the citizens began to hurl rotten food and insults at them.

"A Nord's last thoughts…should be of home." The warrior said with a sad gaze towards the North, a sentiment he could honestly respect even if he didn't like the man's choices in following a psychopath.

As they moved through the streets of the town towards a courtyard where a chopping block was set up he saw several people throwing him and his friends confused glances, likely trying to figure out why an Imperial was travelling with a Khajiit and an Argonian, all trussed up with a band of Stormcloaks who he had heard were the epitome of Nord racism. With a jarring halt he was jarred from his thoughts, the cart having come to a stop as the various Stormcloak soldiers from the different cards were being unloaded for execution.

As he got down he saw an Imperial Soldier glancing down at a list which, by the other carts, he assumed to make sure they had everyone. "Ulfric Stormcloak," the soldier read out "Jarl of Windhelm.".

"It has been an Honor, Jarl Ulfric!" the Nord warrior from his cart intoned solemnly while the gagged man walked over to the other soldiers waiting execution.

"Ralof of Riverwood." The soldier read out as the Nord warrior walked forward, scowling at the Imperials while doing so. "Lokir of Rorikstead." The soldier read out but this one garnered a more volatile reaction from the named prisoner.

"No!" the now named Lokir yelled out "I'm not a rebel! You can't do this!" before taking off running down the street, likely trying to escape.

"Halt!" the woman who had more armor and a clear position of command yelled out.

"You're not going to kill me!" the deranged Lokir yelled fanatically, completely ignoring the soldiers.

"Archers!" the woman called out as an Imperial soldier fired an arrow at the fleeing thief, catching Lokir in the back and sending the man flying into a cliff face. "Anyone else feel like running?" the woman demanded angrily, her expression so full of bloodlust he could tell she wanted them to try.

"Wait a minute," the man with the list said with a frown "you three…step forward.". Nodding slightly he did so, Deresi and Thehan staying a step behind him, almost like guards. "Who…are you?" the man with the list asked them.

"Perseus," he spoke up "and these are my companions, Deresi and Thehan." As he spoke their names his friends nodded.

"Captain, what should we do? They're not on the list." The man with the list asked the now identified Captain with a small frown.

"Forget the list Hadvar, they go to the block." The blood thirsty captain said with a dismissive snort.

"So tell me," he spoke up before the man, Hadvar, could talk to them "who'd you have to bribe to get your position as you're clearly far too dumb to get to the rank of Captain on your own.".

"What did you say?" the captain demanded furiously.

"Hard of hearing as well are we?" he asked with mock concern as his friends smirked behind him "Well to make this as plainly simple as I can so your feeble little mind can handle it. You…are…and…idiot. Did you get all that?".

With a yell of anger the Captain drew her sword and tried to charge him before a loud voice yelled out "Enough!" as he glanced over to see the General stalking towards them, obviously less than pleased. "What's the meaning of this Captain?" the General demanded of the woman who was frozen, sword still raised.

"Just teaching a lesson to these Stormcloak curs General." The 'Captain' spoke up quickly, sheathing her blade and trying to return to military bearing.

"She was ignoring the fact that we were not only not on the list of people to be executed, which can be affirmed by that man there." He raised his bound hands to point at Hadvar "But also the fact that these Rebels are known for their Racism and hatred for any race besides Nords…I'm an Imperial travelling with a Khajiit and an Argonian…need I go on?".

"No you don't." The General growled before looking at Hadvar "Is this true Hadvar?".

"Yes General Tulius," the man said, snapping to attention "their words are true.".

"I did her him insulting Ulfric and the Stormcloak movement on the way over here," the soldier who had yanked Ralof back down into the cart spoke up "referred to Ulfric as a 'megalomaniac'.".

Tulius eyed them for a moment, the man's keen gaze clearly trying to find every bit of their past with a simple glance, before speaking up. "Hadvar, cut them loose. They're free to go. As for you," the man turned towards the Captain "I've had enough of your bloodlust. As of this moment you are officially demoted to the lowest rank and lose all power within this army. Hadvar will be taking over your command.". To signify this change of power the General took the woman's helmet and passed it to a wide eyed Hadvar who graciously accepted before pulling a dagger to cut the bindings on his wrists while another pair of Imperials dragged of the screaming woman who used to be a Captain.

Rolling his shoulders to work out the kings he stood over by Deresi and Thehan to watch the proceedings and, after they were over, try and get a map towards the next town. Now that he was in Skyrim he would have to start planning though as each of them had a different area of expertise and a different goal they wanted to accomplish in Skyrim. He favored the use of the sword and shield in combat, leading the charge against whatever opponent they fought and taking the most hits so his friends could attack from the sides. He planned to track down and join the legendary Companions guild and hoped to rise through the ranks, maybe even one day to become their famed 'Harbinger'.

Deresi was more of a sneak than the rest of them and preferred sneaking bout in light armor which seemed the polar opposite of his scaled friends preferred weapon, the Great Sword. Deresi was an excellent pickpocket and lock pick, often having stolen gold from various thieves in Cyrodil so they could afford to eat when they grew up together on the streets. Deresi's plan was to join the thieves' guild and find a way to take it over, turning it into a group that only stole form bandits and other thieves.

Thehan was the mage of the group and planned to go up to the College of Winterhold to study there and improve in the ways of Magicka, perhaps even gain some authority within the legendary College. When not using spells though his furred friend used a dagger occasionally but for the most part fought using fists and heavy armor gauntlets.

A loud thunderous roar shook him from his thoughts as he looked up to see a Aedra damned dragon winging its way towards the city, the soldiers noticing the beast as they panicked and raised their bows to begin firing. "Men evacuate the civilians!" Tulius ordered loudly, shoving one of the Imperial soldiers towards the houses "The rest of you with me! To battle!".

He was about to try and join the Imperials helping with the evacuation when he saw several Stormcloak soldiers running towards the keep to escape. "Hadvar!" he called out as he pointed towards the escaping Rebels.

The General, having heard them and noticed it as well, called out "Go after them!" as the four of them nodded and took off running after the rebels.

 **AN: As I promised, here are the bios.**

 **Dragonborn:**

 **Name: Perseus**

 **Race: Imperial**

 **Main Weapon: Sword and Shield**

 **Backup Weapon: Archery**

 **Other major skills: restoration magic, enchanting, heavy armor, blacksmithing**

 **Minor skills: sneak, lock picking, speech**

 **Factions/Guilds (that he will join): Dawnguard, Imperials, Companions**

 **Other Facts: Grew up an orphan on the streets with his two closest friends who were also orphans and they all took an oath to always look out for each other but they always seem him as their leader.**

 **Favorite Shouts (Future): cyclone, fire breath, and disarm**

 **Favorite Daedra: Wait and see**

 **Family: none apart from the bond of brotherhood with Deresi and Thehan**

 **Deresi:**

 **Name: Deresi**

 **Race: Argonian**

 **Main Weapon: Great sword**

 **Backup Weapon: archery**

 **Other major skills: sneak, light armor, speech, lock picking, pickpocket**

 **Minor skills: illusion magic, alchemy, alteration magic**

 **Factions/Guilds (that he will join): Dawnguard, Imperials, Thieves guild**

 **Other Facts: Grew up an orphan on the streets with his two closest friends who were also orphans and they all took an oath to always look out for each other but he sees Perseus as his leader.**

 **Personal shout: aura whisper, become ethereal, throw voice**

 **Favorite Daedra: Wait and see**

 **Family: none apart from the bond of brotherhood with Perseus and Thehan**

 **Thehan:**

 **Name: Thehan**

 **Race: Khajiit**

 **Main Weapon: destruction magic**

 **Backup Weapon: conjuration magic**

 **Other major skills: restoration magic, alteration magic, heavy armor**

 **Minor skills: illusion magic, alchemy, enchanting, speech**

 **Factions/Guilds (that he will join): Dawnguard, Imperials, College of Winterhold**

 **Other Facts: Grew up an orphan on the streets with his two closest friends who were also orphans and they all took an oath to always look out for each other but he sees Perseus as his leader. He has extra long saber like fangs due to his father being a vampire but his mother, who had lycan blood, cancelled out the effects leaving him with larger than normal teeth.**

 **Favorite Shouts (Future): ice form, frost breath, and animal allegiance**

 **Favorite Daedra: Wait and see**

 **Family: none apart from the bond of brotherhood with Deresi and Thehan**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: There is a picture of Deresi on the Facebook page for my stories. The page, for those who don't know, is called 'TheSilverboar' and has the same profile picture as my account here.**

 **AN2: This story, and several others, are in need of some images so if there are any artistic people out there who want to be the official (and credited) illustrator for my pieces shoot me a PM.**

The Soldier, the Sorcerer, and the Shadow

Chapter 2

-Perseus-

Groaning he pulled himself to his feet, having dove through the doorway into the keep just before it caved in with rubble along with Deresi, Thehan, and Hadvar. "By the Nine." Hadvar cursed softly as they looked about what he assumed used to be soldier's barracks before they were ransacked by what he assumed were the Stormcloaks.

"This could be a problem." He said with a scowl as he looked at the empty chests and weapon racks "while Thehan has his magic and you have your equipment Deresi and I don't have anything to fight with.".

"Oh I wouldn't say that." Hadvar grinned viciously before walking over to the left wall and felt around near the ground floor.

"What are you doing Hadvar?" he asked, having a small idea and hoping by the Nine he was right.

"I'm looking for…found it!" he saw the Imperial soldier pull a small lever from the bottom of the wall as the stone slid apart to reveal a small armory with several mannequins of armor and racks of weapons. "These are spare armors as well as a few experimental weapons that never became official and even some discontinued armors." Hadvar explained "Such as Imperial daggers and Greatswords.".

"Hadvar my friend," he said as he gave an animalistic grin akin to a wolf "I think this is the start to a long and beautiful friendship.". Moving quickly he outfitted himself in what he recognized as the discontinued Imperial Watch Armor along with the matching shield as well as an imperial shortsword. Deresi wore the black Penitus Oculatus armor and had an Imperial Broadsword in hand. Thehan had what could only be described as mage robes in the Imperial colors with a silver Imperial dragon on the back, added to that his Khajiit friend had a bandolier of three Imperial daggers, which looked like the modern imperial sword but the size of a dwarven dagger, strapped to his chest. All of them also had a self-updating map of Skyrim and pouches that allowed infinite storage even if it didn't take away from the weight.

"Let's move!" Hadvar called out to them as the nodded and made their way down the hallway and the open gate, seeing a dead Stormcloak without a weapon or armor, only the Stormcloak symbol branded into the man's shoulder gave away the corpse's allegiance. Moving on they passed through a storeroom that was ransacked like the barracks had been but they could hear the echoing sounds of fighting ahead.

"Hadvar you're with me on point!" he called out as he drew his shortsword and began a charge down the hall "Thehan, give us some cover fire! Deresi, kill anyone of them that try to break past us!". Before any of them could respond to his orders they rounded the corner to see an old man shooting lightning at a group of Stormcloak soldiers while another Imperial soldier fended them off with a mace. Roaring out a battle cry he leapt into the fray, slamming one of the soldiers sides as the spike on his shield pierced through their torn armor, eliciting a yell from the rebel.

Giving the criminals no time to even think Hadvar leapt in with a yell, stabbing one of the Stormcloaks in the throat with a sword while the Imperials they rescued took advantage of the situation to kill two more rebels with lightning and the mace wielder brained another. Of the three remaining rebels, two charged at him only to be shot down by ice spikes from Thehan while the last attempted to flee only to be caught and stabbed through the chest by Deresi.

"Much obliged," the old man with the hood said "you fellows happened along just in time. These boys were a bit…upset at how I've been 'entertaining' their comrades.".

"Don't you know what's happening?!" Hadvar exclaimed at the man's calm attitude "A dragon is attacking Helgen!".

"A dragon? Don't make up nonsense." The old man scoffed before looking closer at what they were wearing "And why are they wearing those armors? I thought they were restricted and last I checked you lacked the authority to-".

"Last you checked was too long ago," Hadvar said coldly "I've been made a captain and, as such, I have the authority to grant them those armors. Now you are going to come with us and we're getting out of this keep.".

"You have no authority over m-" the old man began only to be silence by Hadvar leveling a blade to the man's neck.

"I am the highest ranking soldier in this keep bar the General," Hadvar said coldly "unless he says so my word is law to you. If I tell you to jump then your Aedra Damned ass will ask how high. Do I make myself clear?!".

"Y-yes sir." The old man stammered before he heard a sound causing him to glance over and notice that Deresi had picked the lock to one of the cages and gotten some extra mage gear and coins, which they would likely sell after getting free of the warzone they found themselves in, as well as a spell tome which was handed to an eager Thehan.

"Let's move out." He called out as they moved down the hall, finding a wall had been smashed to reveal a tunnel and the sound of Stormcloaks could be heard from down its length. "Lets give em hell boys." He called out as he got roars of agreement from Hadvar, Deresi, Thehan, and the Imperial with the mace while the old man whimpered.

Charging down the corridor, he heard the sound of several Stormcloaks arguing about whether or not to push onward or go back when he burst from the passage, driving his sword through the back of the first rebel and out their chest as their pained yell drew the attention of the other Stormcloaks.

"For the Empire!" Hadvar yelled, charging past him along with the mace wielding Imperial, engaging the Stormcloaks on the lower level of the cavern while he and Deresi charged the ones on the walkway and finally Thehan and the old man provided ranged spell support.

His body went on autopilot as he fought, catching axes and hammers on his shield, spitting out sprays of blood when Deresi carved into the soldiers he held at bay. Then they would switch as Deresi used the Imperial broadsword to hold back the iron greatsword of a Stormcloak who fell to his sword piercing their ribs.

A whooshing sound drew his attention as he looked over to see Thehan finishing up a flame spell as what he assumed to be a patch of oil on the ground burst into flames, killing the two rebel archers. "I think that's the last of them." Hadvar panted as they caught their breath from the small battle, moving towards the other side of the cavern to follow the trail out of Helgen.

They were crossing a wooden bridge when he looked up to see the tail of the dragon flying by as it slammed into a stone tower, breaking off large chunks of stone which began to fall down towards them. "Oh gods move!" he yelled as he began springing down the remaining length of the bridge, Deresi and Thehan matching his pace with Hadvar not far behind. They just dove to safety when landed and looked back to see a massive piece of stone come crashing down onto the bridge and the other two imperial soldiers. Running over to the opening he looked down into the pit, in a desperate hope that the two men might be alive, only to see a couple of limp limbs sticking out from the rubble.

"Let's move on." Hadvar told them, voice heavy "There's nothing more we can do here and I never want to lay eyes on this Aedra forsaken place again.".

Nodding in agreement he and his companions followed the flowing water down a cave tunnel until it stopped but by then there was only one path left so it didn't matter. Inside they killed a group of giant spiders, which Hadvar identified as frostbite spiders, and pushed onward, only stopping so they could kill a bear, which, by the skeletons, had been killing and feeding on travelers.

Finally, they stepped out of the cave and into the sunlight once more, noticing the dragon that had caused all the death and destruction they just escaped from winging away in the distance. "Come on," Hadvar said almost numbly "we're almost to Riverwood. My Uncle's the blacksmith there and I'm sure he can help us out.".

Hadvar was about to move on when he placed a hand on the soldier's soldier "They rest now among their ancestors telling tales of their glories Hadvar." He said seriously "Mourn them yes, honor them yes, remember them yes…but do not become so overcome by grief that it consumes you. If you must act then train so you may see that something like this doesn't happen again…train so you may avenge them.".

Hadvar nodded shakily "Thank you Perseus." Hadvar said with a grateful nod before the group of four began walking down the trail towards Riverwood.


End file.
